Romney camp: The gloves are coming off after the Bain attacks

posted at 10:01 am on July 18, 2012 by Ed Morrissey

Republicans cheered Mitt Romney’s speech from Pennsylvania last night, attacking Barack Obama’s crony capitalism and ripping his statement that small business owners “didn’t build” their own successes. They may have missed something that Romney left out — a mention of Obama as a “nice guy” who just isn’t up to the task of being President of the United States. After getting a taste of Chicago politics, Romney and his team have decided to take the gloves off and jump into the character debate Obama apparently wants to have:

In speeches from Des Moines to Dallas, Romney has always been careful to hedge his tough digs at Obama with a civil nod toward the president’s moral character: “He’s a nice guy,” the Republican has often said. “He just has no idea how the private economy works.” But Tuesday’s speech included no such hedge — and one campaign adviser said there’s a reason for that.

“[Romney] has said Obama’s a nice fellow, he’s just in over his head,” the adviser said. “But I think the governor himself believes this latest round of attacks that have impugned his integrity and accused him of being a felon go so far beyond that pale that he’s really disappointed. He believes it’s time to vet the president. He really hasn’t been vetted; McCain didn’t do it.”

Indeed, facing what the candidate and his aides believe to be a series of surprisingly ruthless, unfounded, and unfair attacks from the Obama campaign on Romney’s finances and business record, the Republican’s campaign is now prepared to go eye for an eye in an intense, no-holds-barred act of political reprisal, said two Romney advisers who spoke on condition of anonymity. In the next chapter of Boston’s pushback — which began last week when they began labeling Obama a “liar” — very little will be off-limits, from the president’s youthful drug habit, to his ties to disgraced Chicago politicians.

“I mean, this is a guy who admitted to cocaine use, had a sweetheart deal with his house in Chicago, and was associated and worked with Rod Blagojevich to get Valerie Jarrett appointed to the Senate,” the adviser said. “The bottom line is there’ll be counterattacks.”

Might there be a reference or two to Jeremiah Wright, a man Obama described in 2007 as one of his close advisers and whose church Obama attended for 20 years, and the “God damn America” speech? If so, I’d guess that they’ll farm that out to surrogates.

However, as BuzzFeed points out, this puts John Sununu’s offhanded comment about Obama needing to learn more about being American in some clearer context. That may have gone farther than Sununu or the campaign intended, and Sununu apologized immediately afterward for the remark. But that may have come from a new resolve to fully engage in the character battle that Obama launched unilaterally in May, and to do it in “nuclear” fashion, as John Hinderaker noted.

That may or may not be a great idea for the campaign – -depending on execution. Sticking to an economic argument would focus on what voters care most about rather than fight on less-clear grounds about which is the better man morally for the job. However, it has become clear that Obama won’t talk about the economy and will launch a character fight as a distraction. This means Romney needs to find a way to turn that fight into something relevant to the economy — which Romney has started to do with his sharp attacks on Obama’s crony capitalism within the stimulus program as a way to argue that Obama is hopelessly corrupt.

My guess is that this will at least rally the base for Romney, where complaints over his lack of response to Obama’s attacks on his character have crescendoed recently. It will also distance Team Romney from Team McCain, which disdained these kind of attacks on Obama, when Obama didn’t have a record to criticize. That alone will make Romney more popular with Republicans and conservatives.

Update: The Boss Emeritus gives this news a literal “hallelujah!” Also, I added “depending on execution” in the second-to-last paragraph to clarify my opening sentence. I thought the meaning was clear, but just in case it wasn’t …

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Gloves, nothing. Obama has handed you a free arsenal of nukes to use against him and continues to give them to you with every policy decision and speech. USE THEM. Turn the Obama administration into a political smoldering crater nobody will want to go near for thousands of years.

Let the surrogates attack him personally about his many defects, character flaws and drug problems. Romney can stay clean by sticking to his message about the economy. And Romney should never, ever offer and apology for something one of his people ends up saying. Tit-for-tat for the “felon” remark cokehead O!

Hotair is STILL ignoring Arpaio’s amazing revelations about Barky’s BC and Hawaiian law? As if Drudge didn’t even exist. It’s just the cover story on the main news site the world over …

What is wrong with this place?

ThePrimordialOrderedPair on July 18, 2012 at 10:24 AM

Good grief. This birth certificate business has been bouncing around for 4 years now and hasn’t made a dent in Obama. Let’s stick to beating his a$$ in November and not worrying about whether he was ever eligible for the job in the first place.

Couldn’t Romney achieve a positive end by pointing out to the skeptical or the unemployed Obama supporter that he/she might now be earning a paycheck if Obama had not put the kibbosh to (name the industry)?

Gov. Romney is not dumb. No one who gets and MBA and law degree from Harvard simulataneously is dumb.

Voter from WA State on July 18, 2012 at 10:31 AM

Mitt was my least fav of all GOP contenders. But, after every debate, I had to concede he was clearly the most polished. I look forward to the upcoming Pres. debates as for the first time all of America’s viewers will be exposed to the fraud the Pres. has always been.It’s called having a record, not rhetoric.

May be. Pretty sure that if Romney does have any success, the Obama team will simply drop that and go after something else. I can’t believe that they don’t have several issues lined up ready to go…and then/if the Romney team drops the Bain issue, the Obama team will bring it back up again.

Romney may be assuming that voters are well aware of Rev. Wright, Fast and Furious and so on…they’re not. His ads should educate them. :-)

Marcus on July 18, 2012 at 10:25 AM

I was furious at McCain for doing that “suspending my campaign” thing. He lost momentum and looked foolish sitting there with Bush and Obama at the TARP/The World’s Coming To An End! fiasco.

Romney could end the tax return debate in about 10 seconds. He should have an armed guard with his past 5 years tax returns at all Obama events holding a sign stating as much. The ‘catch” is that the armed guard would only release them to Obama himself and he would have to sign for them.

Romney can then say that Obama “now has the tax returns his campaign wants, however I’m not sure how they will create jobs or help the economy”. If Obama really wanted them, he could have them!

Good grief. This birth certificate business has been bouncing around for 4 years now and hasn’t made a dent in Obama. Let’s stick to beating his a$$ in November and not worrying about whether he was ever eligible for the job in the first place.

Bitter Clinger on July 18, 2012 at 10:39 AM

Yes … let’s ignore the greatest crime in world history … If you don’t acknowledge it, then it never really happened and everyone can just move on.

Sorry, that doesn’t work. Governing institutions (in the old AMerica) relied on the faith and trust of the citizenry. If you think tossing that aside will leave anything resembling what America used to be then you are sadly and completely mistaken. If a criminal is not identified and punished then the crime becomes culturally accepted. You CANNOT have a decent society where there can be no trust, whatsoever, in any part of government, which is exactly what this historical fraud represents. You can’t just ignore a crime and that makes it all go away.

The US government is supposed to be one that exists with the consent of the governed. If that is tossed aside, I assure you that you don’t want to be under whatever is left. It is not pleasant in any way, at all.

This administration has been ruthless in going after private citizens simply for the sin of supporting Republicans. I think some surrogates need to lay bare Axelrod and Jarrett and their tax returns, business dealings and sex lives. You asked for it, you got it! I think they would shut up in no time if the full power of oppo research were pointed at their very questionable pasts!!

The agreed meaning of ‘casuistry´´ is in flux. The term can be used either to describe a presumably acceptable form of reasoning or a form of reasoning that is inherently unsound and deceptive

From the Latin si sit casu, or take the case of, and the term took on its pejorative connotations only after Pascal’s stinging critique of the many summas of moral reasoning produced by Jesuit casuistry, but you should probably try to stay on topic, which is Romney’s strange belief that if he telegraphs his punches that he can make his opponents play nice or something.

If you still have doubts that Romney will be tough enough, listen to yesterday’s stump speech in PA. he blasted ObeyMe throughout with just the right tone. hammered him thoroughly and also provided his plans to right the ship.

yesterday, Obama declared that Texas was going to be a “battleground state.” Why does the cynic in me want to take that literally?

ted c on July 18, 2012 at 10:38 AM

Not a chance, McCain took it by 11%. Even more evidence as Tea Partier Cruz has started to dismantle GOP establishment Mr. Dewhurst…Oblamer will win the cities of Austin, Houston and the Mexican border counties—no mas!

Romney and his team have decided to take the gloves off and jump into the character debate Obama apparently wants to have

I’ll believe that when Romney addresses the issue that the PDF that Obama claimed was his Birth Certificate and had placed on the White House web site has been declared, by an official law enforcement investigation, as “undoubtedly a fraud”.

And Hawaiian law allowed people born outside of the state (even outside the USA) to get a Hawaiian Birth Certificate.

Not happy about this. It’s like the old adage, never get in the slop with a pig. You get dirty, and the pig likes it. Axelrod has set a trap and it appears Romney is about to walk right into it.
Romney needs to win over people who voted for Obama in 2008. He won’t do it by telling them they were played by a bad guy and calling him names. The best way to do it, still, is to show them that Obama is simply a clueless President who may have been inspiring but has shown himself as someone who only cares about the trappings of the office and not about doing the job.

rockmom on July 18, 2012 at 10:10 AM

Actually, I think this is the exact route to take. 0bama lied his @ss off to get elected, the media willingly covered for him, and never told Ma and Pa LoInfo a lot of shiz they really wish they knew going into the voting booth in November 2008. It’s the whole basis of Andrew Breitbart’s (RIP) strategy this election—tell the truth, and absolve the voter for being lied to back in ’08—gives the voter permission to change his or her mind for ’12.

Let’s not forget the Obama harassment of Boeing and Gibson Guitars, among other businesses.

Let’s also not neglect the impact of Obama’s communist mentor, Franklin Marshall Davis. The current book should give plenty of ammunition and have an apt news peg.

onlineanalyst on July 18, 2012 at 10:35 AM

That’s a very good point. There’s an endless array of things to attack Maobama over. Unfortunately I don’t think Romney will use Fast and Furious although he should.

There will be a better chance Romney uses Franklen Marshall Davis to attack Maobama. I heard Beck going over some of the direct influences from the new book this morning. And Romney could tie this directly into Maobama’s recent “you didn’t build it yourself” attacks.

If you have to repeatedly tell everybody that “the gloves are coming off,” then the gloves haven’t really come off and probably never will.

Just so. Romney is the perfect post-modern candidate in that he is all signifier and no signified. Romney’s gloves are coming off becomes the act of the gloves coming off only the gloves never come off. The announcement itself is the signified.

Similarly, Romney is a conservative because he says he’s a conservative. His record as governor argues the precise opposite. But the announcement itself of Romney’s “severe conservatism” is meant to stand as the substance of his conservative accomplishment itself.

Are we sure that Romney isn’t some titanic cosmic joke played at the expense of our party and our movement? Just a thought.

And this time he really gosh darn means it! Team Romney is gonna mention your drug use so phooey on you! And say hello to my little friend–the blank-shooting Tony Rezko card!

Chicago thugs are happy. They have the media & Hollywood & pop culture icons to run defense for them and it’s an advantage to have an angry, rich, heartless, racist white male on the attack of our first an historic holy black presidency.

Mitt’s gonna go down, he might as well go down stinkin’ bloody ugly unlike that septuagenarian war hero.

“[Romney] has said Obama’s a nice fellow, he’s just in over his head,” the adviser said. “But I think the governor himself believes this latest round of attacks that have impugned his integrity and accused him of being a felon go so far beyond that pale that he’s really disappointed. He believes it’s time to vet the president.

So was the whole “nice guy” bit a set up for time when they decided to pivot into attack mode? If so, very well done.

O/T- But comrade Mika and the stooges this am on Morning Bloe were bemoaning the gotcha politics of Ocommie’s “misinterpreted” remarks on how successful business people “did not do it on their own” and how Mitt was being dishonest !! – I’m like you have got to be freaking kidding me and stopped yelling at the liberal duma$$ pixie long enough to hear that “Willie” guy interject:“We all really knew what Romney meant when he said Corporations are people”

Really ? NOW you say this ? MSNBS has reached a new low of stupidity.

These dishonest media dumb a$$es are so fearful of Super Mitt- they are gonna say and do anything to prop up their messiah- including back pedaling. They will not be able to defend Ocommie anymore without major contradictions and some introspection.

Good grief. This birth certificate business has been bouncing around for 4 years now and hasn’t made a dent in Obama. Let’s stick to beating his a$$ in November and not worrying about whether he was ever eligible for the job in the first place.

Bitter Clinger on July 18, 2012 at 10:39 AM

Could be that there’s just so much wrong with this guy that people refuse to believe it…reminds me of the Clintons.

Mitt was my least fav of all GOP contenders. But, after every debate, I had to concede he was clearly the most polished. I look forward to the upcoming Pres. debates as for the first time all of America’s viewers will be exposed to the fraud the Pres. has always been.It’s called having a record, not rhetoric.

hillsoftx on July 18, 2012 at 10:40 AM

Speaking of debates, Romney should follow The Great One’s advice to challenge Maobama to a series of debates across the country. It’s a win win. If Maobama declines he looks like a coward afraid to defend his record. If they have the debates, advantage Romney who was very good in the GOP debates while Hillary handed Maobama’s a$$ to him in 2008.

Obama is a problem to be sure. Wouldn’t it have been great if the GOP primaries had produced a serious candidate to oppose him instead of Mitt “the gloves are rilly rilly coming off this time” Romney? Hey, but maybe the gloves will rilly rilly rilly come off this time. Or maybe the next time, or the time after that. You. Just. Never. Know.

It’s not a hard argument to make, or tie together, and Romney doesn’t have to be mean in making it.

The economy sucks. Why? Party because the ideology of spending your way out of debt is logically unsound and has proven time and time again not to work. And also because a great deal of that spending was hard-earned taxpayer dollars -much of it from small businesses that were built through ingenuity, sweat and tears, and significant risks taken by individuals with a dream to better themselves and their communities- and were used to repay Obama’s campaign supporters and special interests rather than through investments with real return. We need a better, smarter vision for our country. We need to put Americans first, not government. We need to allow businesses to grow, even if that means they also grow globally. A business with American workers producing American products that also has foreign workers producing products in their native lands, is better than no business at all. Given the choice, the President seems to prefer the latter.

If you have to repeatedly tell everybody that “the gloves are coming off,” then the gloves haven’t really come off and probably never will.
steebo77 on July 18, 2012 at 10:47 AM

I hope that’s not the case. I’ve been a Palin supporter all the way, it’s a shame she didn’t run.

We need to defeat Maobama and Romney is our only hope. It is what it is. Romney’s response yesterday was right on. It’s about time and I can only hope more is coming. You have to give credit to Mitt for finally knocking it out of the park.

Talk calmly, talk direct, stick to the facts, when the Obama bunch lies smash them with nice hard hitting facts.

You can smash them on their “lie based chin” with facts.

When they attempt to change the subject,, stay on subject and do not let up.

Do not allow their bed mates the msm enable the change of subject.

In fact have Mitt make a clear movement of his head and eyes to the msm hacks and “If you do not mind, I am not going to allow you to help Pres. Obama divert and change the subject.”
“Now back to Pres. Obama and the Democrat Party tax and spend methods.”

Goverment and its 10′s of thousand rules and regulations as it is now must be over come in order to be a sucess in the U.S..

Obama is a problem to be sure. Wouldn’t it have been great if the GOP primaries had produced a serious candidate to oppose him instead of Mitt “the gloves are rilly rilly coming off this time” Romney? Hey, but maybe the gloves will rilly rilly rilly come off this time. Or maybe the next time, or the time after that. You. Just. Never. Know.

I just hope Romney is serious. Odumbo has been dictating the Discussion thus far. Romney has to pull up the boot straps and jump in. Boot to the throat and don’t let him up. This Mcain style capaigning doesn’t work.

Hotair is STILL ignoring Arpaio’s amazing revelations about Barky’s BC and Hawaiian law? As if Drudge didn’t even exist. It’s just the cover story on the main news site the world over …

What is wrong with this place?

ThePrimordialOrderedPair on July 18, 2012 at 10:24 AM

It’s ridiculous, I tell you. They’re treating this story as if it’s not important. Like it’s just some kind of nuisance perpetuated by drooling troglodytes who are somehow more fanatical, annoying, and dishonest than the Obama administration.

That ain’t news to Mitt supporters…look what he did to Newt, the problem is, Obama is a different creature.
He’s like the proverbial cockroach that will live after the atomic explosion…nothing seems to get rid of him.

But a constant barrage of attacks, unrelenting will eventually take him out…what McCain did, kid gloves, doesn’t work, he just bounces back.

Like a good fighter, you get him in a corner and pummel him with body shots until he collapses. Dancing around the ring doesn’t work.

Did I use an indirect article when you would have preferred a direct article? Oh, for shame. You misspelled Mormon, by the way, and I’m not one, and I denounce your anti-Mormonism. So I suppose we’re even. You disapprove of my choice of articles; I disapprove of your bigotry. So at least we have that. It’s not Paris in the springtime but it will do. Hey, what was the topic of this thread again? Oh, yes, Romney’s spiritless and ineffectual defence of conservative principle as he is not now, nor ever was, a conservative, “severe” or otherwise.

The gloves are coming off, people! But what you’re going to discover is another glove, only this one will have a lace trim and a big embroidered ‘R’. Romney is all glove and no hand.

Good grief. This birth certificate business has been bouncing around for 4 years now and hasn’t made a dent in Obama. Let’s stick to beating his a$$ in November and not worrying about whether he was ever eligible for the job in the first place.

It hasn’t made a dent because the Repub establishment is afraid of the “racist” charge. The charge of “racism” is nothing compared to what will happen if this poser is re-elected. Arpaio’s investigation is the biggest arrow in our quiver. It must be used now or the national media will get this twit across the finish line. I for one, will simply not accept obama again as president. Mark my words, it ill be full on “John Galt” by millions if he is re-elected.

Couldn’t Romney achieve a positive end by pointing out to the skeptical or the unemployed Obama supporter that he/she might now be earning a paycheck if Obama had not put the kibbosh to (name the industry)?

onlineanalyst on July 18, 2012 at 10:39 AM

You are assuming said Obama supporter is not getting government assistance and would rather fight to keep it than earn a paycheck.

It’s ridiculous, I tell you. They’re treating this story as if it’s not important. Like it’s just some kind of nuisance perpetuated by drooling troglodytes who are somehow more fanatical, annoying, and dishonest than the Obama administration.

I don’t understand why they’re doing that.

RINO in Name Only on July 18, 2012 at 11:32 AM

Hotair has a case of the “Roberts” – too concerned they might look “bad” in mentioning it, even to debunk/refute it. Just pretend it didn’t happen – acting more like “mainstream media” everyday.

It may turn out to be false or a fool’s errand, but at least the Sheriff is actually producing documents and evidence to review.
There can be explanations for this (although there are a lot of “mistakes” for so formal a document), but it reminds me of how they busted Dan Rather at C-BS re the fake Bush documents – made to look old, but drafted using current technology. The discrepancies tripped them up. I wonder, did they review a pdf scan of the BC? If so, that could EASILY be altered, as it’s a digital scan of a paper document. “Here – confirm the authenticity of this Xerox”. Good luck with that. So where’s the paper document of his BC he allegedly produced? Clerk of the US Senate? Did he just produce a pdf?

If this is actually true, it will still get no play whatsoever in the media. None, nada, negative. Wheels spinning in the mud.

It is entirely possible that this is just the ramblings of a wacko sheriff. Then again, it’s possible that all of his evidence really does reveal forgery. That’s 50/50 odds, as far as I’m concerned.

It will come down to the evidence, which the Sheriff is apparently all up-front about, and has presented for review (for now). And Barry isn’t too legit or forthcoming on his past, now is he, what with the composite girlfriends and manufactured stories to fit narratives in his own autobiographies.

The thing to watch with this is 1) the sheriff’s claims/evidence and 2) his opposition’s response to said claims/evidence.

If the opposition do what they have done so far, which is hand wave this and say “we don’t want to hear it”, “we’re past this”, the science is settled”, etc. then they aren’t saying “he’s a wacko and HERE’S WHY.” They could destroy the Sheriff easily if he’s lying or wrong, and use it against him in his current run for office (the sheriff, I mean, who’s also up for election). My guess is they won’t refute him or his “facts”, they’ll just slander and dismiss him. Which is what Barry does to all his opponents on pretty much any issue. But it won’t be disproving what the Sheriff alleges. Example – “You robbed the bank on June 2, 2012.” “Well, YOU”RE a wacko wh0re!” Not a denial, and not a counterargument.

Remember when a press corp reporter asked WH spokesman Jay Carney about Obama’s own college records, after Obama said Mittens should be forthcoming? Rather than say he’ll release them, he dismissed the question as a “Donald Trump question”. See, Mittens can come clean, but Obama remains the International Man of Mystery. Keep that in mind as we move forward.

Any “truth” on this matter won’t come out until Barry loses in Nov. or serves 4 more years. THEN any truth on his citizenship will come out, when it no longer matters.

I must apply some context to this – my mother is attempting to get a US passport, and even though she has a certified copy of her original birth certificate (I laid hands upon it), it is “too old” and she needs to pony up the $ for ANOTHER one, or they will not issue her a passport.

Romney is absolutely not serious because he knows what apparently none of you on this thread know, which is that you cannot go negative when your own negatives are higher than your opponents. The result is always disaster. This is why Romney could go nuclear on Gingrich and why Gingrich’s riposts always had the opposite of their intended effect.

Obama’s likeability–a quality of his character that I do not understand as I have never liked the man–makes it possible for him to go negative without serious cost. Romney, who is perceived as aloof and out of touch, enjoys no such advantage. The gloves are coming off? Yeahright.

Indeed, facing what the candidate and his aides believe to be a series of surprisingly ruthless, unfounded, and unfair attacks from the Obama campaign on Romney’s finances and business record, the Republican’s campaign is now prepared to go eye for an eye in an intense, no-holds-barred act of political reprisal, said two Romney advisers who spoke on condition of anonymity.

I’ll beleive this bullsh!t when I see it.

It seems that unless you’re a conservative rival, Mittens doesn’t have the ‘nads to go on offense…he’s an appeaser in a $2k suit and a $200 haircut.

Good grief. This birth certificate business has been bouncing around for 4 years now and hasn’t made a dent in Obama. Let’s stick to beating his a$$ in November and not worrying about whether he was ever eligible for the job in the first place.

Bitter Clinger on July 18, 2012 at 10:39 AM

This isn’t about birtherism. I don’t care if he was born in Washington, D.C. But I don’t see why this should be ignored. The documents are fakes. He should be held accountable for that, especially if he’s going to whine about Romney’s Tax Returns. Otherwise Romney should post a bunch of fake Tax Returns and tell the media to go to hell if they complain about it.

Born in the states, and I vote in PA where I am registered as a libertarian (Austrian schooler, hew to Schumpeter). And, yes, I am concerned about Romney’s non-performance which anyone could have predicted.

This isn’t about birtherism. I don’t care if he was born in Washington, D.C. But I don’t see why this should be ignored. The documents are fakes. He should be held accountable for that, especially if he’s going to whine about Romney’s Tax Returns. Otherwise Romney should post a bunch of fake Tax Returns and tell the media to go to hell if they complain about it.

The Rogue Tomato on July 18, 2012 at 11:43 AM

Perfect.

ANYONE who is cowered by the MSM’s “Birther” label needs to understand this. I don’t care where the idiot was hatched….I’m curious as to “why” the forgery and “what” he’s hiding and “how” someone vying for the highest office in the land can get away with this sh!t – not just BEFORE he was elected, but for four friggin’ years.

The result is always disaster. This is why Romney could go nuclear on Gingrich and why Gingrich’s riposts always had the opposite of their intended effect.

casuist on July 18, 2012 at 11:42 AM

So. Good thing Romney went nuclear on Gingrich driving both of their negatives up, ensuring that nobody would be liked coming out of the GOP primary and that nobody could go negative on Obama, huh? Way to keep your eye on the prize Guv.

Indeed, facing what the candidate and his aides believe to be a series of surprisingly ruthless, unfounded, and unfair attacks from the Obama campaign…

I hope the Romney campaign was not actually “surprised” by this level of sleaze and the ad hominem attacks coming from 0bama: this is, after all, the guy who came up through the Daley Machine and began his political career by suing opponents and/or leaking their sealed divorce records.

I would prefer that to the grim reality that Romney never reacts in actuo. He just tells you that he is going to react as if his intention suffices for the act. He’s the perfect post-modern figure of perfect emptiness, a void where a man should stand.

The result is always disaster. This is why Romney could go nuclear on Gingrich and why Gingrich’s riposts always had the opposite of their intended effect.

casuist on July 18, 2012 at 11:42 AM

And, given your theory, by driving up his own negatives through his excessive negative ads in the primary, Romney opened himself up to all kinds of negative attacks, with no way to defend himself against them. Brilliant.

So. Good thing Romney went nuclear on Gingrich driving both of their negatives up, ensuring that nobody would be liked coming out of the GOP primary and that nobody could go negative on Obama, huh? Way to keep your eye on the prize Guv.

We all knew that Romney would pay a high price for his titanic vanity in the primaries. The problem for us is that he was using OUR capital in the form of the GOP’s chances for taking the presidency in November.

I would prefer that to the grim reality that Romney never reacts in actuo. He just tells you that he is going to react as if his intention suffices for the act. He’s the perfect post-modern figure of perfect emptiness, a void where a man should stand.

casuist on July 18, 2012 at 11:52 AM

This is my impression of him when he talks about how he intends to act vis-a-vis Obamacare, big government, taxes, etc.

Obama has lied so many times it should be easy to bash him. I think his promises multiple times to have CSPAN cover the Obamacare debate being broken with behind closed doors dealing is a good one to bring up. It’s how we got that law crammed down our throats so fast before the election.

I couldn’t get a job without showing my university transcripts – why not Obama?

Trump, who has endorsed Romney, repeatedly returned to the topic of Obama’s college records and transcripts, suggesting the documents would contain “things you will not believe.”

Or maybe casuist really is a Hawaiian-born Canadian subject and True Conservative who happens to vote in Pennsylvania, where Massachusetts’ RomneyCare has wreaked havoc with his/her insurance to the point that it even cancels out the vaunted Canadian single-payer system to which casuist, as a Canadian subject, would presumably have access?

For the record, I don’t think casuist and angryed are the same person; they just have the same lack of the self-control and discipline needed for relatively effective concern trolling.

They’re treating this story as if it’s not important. Like it’s just some kind of nuisance perpetuated by drooling troglodytes who are somehow more fanatical, annoying, and dishonest than the Obama administration.

I don’t understand why they’re doing that.

RINO in Name Only on July 18, 2012 at 11:32 AM

Thinking about WHY – The implications of this revelation are staggering, and it exposes a criminal level of complicity on both sides of the aisle from top to bottom. Every SecState who let him on the ballot with dubious documentation, for starters, could be held culpable.

Contemplate the constitutional crisis and clusterfark that would surround every document and EO that this fraud Obama has illegitimately signed in 3-1/2 years, and how to unwind such a mess. The overwhelming magnitude of the problem and how to fix the damage done is WHY. Nobody can confront that.

I hope Romney is playing chess while Obama is playing checkers, Romney’s statement that “the gloves are coming off” is hopefully a sign that he will use the kitchen sink against Obama, with the excuse “he’s not not the nice guy we all thought”.

Hotair is STILL ignoring Arpaio’s amazing revelations about Barky’s BC and Hawaiian law? As if Drudge didn’t even exist. It’s just the cover story on the main news site the world over …

What is wrong with this place?

ThePrimordialOrderedPair on July 18, 2012 at 10:24 AM

I agree that there is plenty of suspicion about Obama being born in Hawaii but I also agree that this issue if actively pursued as a campaign issue will GUARANTEE ROMNEY’S LOSS simply because the public doesn’t want to hear about it any more. Remember we’re talking Chicago politics and absolute thuggery. Therefore any hard evidence showing Obama’s birth anywhere other than Hawaii has been irrevocably wiped out as well as, presumably, any corroborating individual.

Sun Tze said “If the battle can’t be won, don’t fight it.” On this birth subject, we should listen to his advice.

ANYONE who is cowered by the MSM’s “Birther” label needs to understand this. I don’t care where the idiot was hatched….I’m curious as to “why” the forgery and “what” he’s hiding and “how” someone vying for the highest office in the land can get away with this sh!t – not just BEFORE he was elected, but for four friggin’ years.

Tim_CA on July 18, 2012 at 11:50 AM

It’s not about being cowed. It’s that we don’t believe the birthers in the first place. They have produced no credible evidence of any of their claims. It’s all based on easily debunked nonsense about pdfs producing layering effects, or someone used a different typewriter to fill in part of a form (bonus points for any birther who can figure out the most likely explanation for this), or the ink doesn’t appear to have made a full impression on the stamp used, or someone wrote the wrong date somewhere.

If they actually had anything serious to say, they wouldn’t have wasted our time with stuff like this.

At this point, their credibility is completely gone. They are the “boy who cried birth certificate” Obama is more honest than the typical birther. Think about that. They have descended to the point where Barack Obama is a more reliable source of information. That’s how far these people have sunk.

We aren’t avoiding birtherism because the media might think we’re crazy. We’re ignoring the issue because we aren’t actually crazy.